The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 084 – The King of the Abyss [A]
It was the place farthest from the sky.
It was one of the deepest places in this world, a land that continued deep underground. There was a cavernous hole there.
At this distant location shrouded in darkness, where even the light of the sun couldn’t reach, a group of people set foot there.
[“Long ago there were three bows in this world. ～Haruka mukashi Konosekainiha mittunoyumigaatta～”] 1
“…Ah?”
“Eh, what?”
They were Maou Ssulal and Majin Leonhart.
They had come to this place with a large group that included their majin companions and apostles.
Everyone stopped their movement at the mysterious story that was suddenly being told to them and looked around.
Meanwhile, the story continued.
[“There was the sacred bow Yank that was created by god. ～Kamiga tsukurishi Seikyuu Yanku-～”]
“Ooh, the story seems to continue.”
“Fumu, it seems the voice is echoing from somewhere…”
Galtia and Kesselring reacted.
However,
[“There was the demonic bow Ginod that was created by the devil. ～Akumaga tsukurishi Makyuu Gino-do～”]
“…Let’s listen to it for now.”
“So we’re just listening, huh…”
“I prepared snacks in case such an occasion arose! Well then, please enjoy them everyone!”
[“There was the divine bow Caris that was created by the spirit king.～Seireinoouga tsukurishi Shinkyuu Karisu～”]
Carol made her move at Leonhart’s words. As everyone nibbled on the snacks that she had taken out of nowhere, they stayed where they were and listened. Although Hunty felt a little reluctant somehow, she still took a snack in the end.
Meanwhile, the mysterious story continued,
[“These weapons were considered trump cards during the age of mythical war but they never got a chance to be used, with the exception of the demonic bow Ginod.”]
“Aah, so it’s that kind of story. The things mentioned were painful words.”
“I wonder what kind of story it will be…”
“…Master, you don’t seem to be enjoying it?”
“Ssulal loves this kind of thing after all… She even liked our monikers of the King of the Beasts and King of the Night, and sometimes wrote them in books.”
Unlike Leonhart who frowned and expected nothing from the story, Ssulal began to look forward to its continuation, while everyone else stared with half-lidded eyes.
[“When the war entered a stalemate, a devil used the power of the bow and shot it at the god named Fia.”]
“…I think this is going to last for a long time, I’m getting sleepy.”
“Hunty-san! You shouldn’t stop reading after only a few lines! We ought to give defending arguments like ‘we should endure the introduction chapters’ or ‘things will turn interesting from chapter 3 onward’ or, for the terrible stories, ‘the main story will start in full course once it reaches volume 10’! Well, most of them ended up not that big of a deal though!”
“That’s not even a follow up.”
“Carol often reads books, but her comments are quite blunt, you see… It seems she often sends those comments to the author and makes them depressed.”
“…That really makes one depressed, you know…”
Ssulal felt a little down for some reason.
The group continued to listen to the story while chatting and occasionally enjoying the snacks,
[“Fia, who was hit by the arrow, transformed into something ugly, her body spreading and expanding til she was enormous, losing her senses and self control.”]
“…Someone suddenly died?”
“Having such a shocking development in the introduction chapter isn’t that bad.”
“Heeh, so it’s that kind of thing… oh, this karakara-yaki tastes sweet and spicy. This sweet and sticky sensation is addicting.”
“I rarely eat this kind of snack, but… fumu, it’s not bad.”
Galtia evaluated the crunchy snack and Kesselring also enjoyed it.
[“It is said that the end result of her transformation become the space known as ‘Abyss’ in present day.”]
“That’s quite a sudden jump in the story.”
“If they go ahead and explain that part first, there isn’t any mystery left. Or perhaps this story does not matter much to the main plot?”
“So the demonic bow Ginod possessed the power of darkness… the power of madness, strong enough to drive a god to self-destruction…!”
“…I guess you also got pierced by that bow…”
“Leonhart… don’t you think that’s too harsh of you?”
Kesselring gave him a light scolding after Leonhart’s harsh words toward Ssulal.
However, Ssulal didn’t seem to notice it.
[“Abyss.”]
The story continued.
[“—It was a world that existed somewhere within this world.”]
“Nah, it’s right here.”
Such was the retort of everyone present with exception of Ssulal, although their wording was different, their timing was about the same.
[“It was another world that took on the darkness of this world.”]
“…It’s not a different world by any means, though. We arrived here relatively quickly too.”
[“It was said to be the reason that suffering wouldn’t disappear from this world.”]
“Crunch, hm… the oyster with peanuts is quite good. The slight spiciness of the oyster and salty spiciness of the peanuts make a perfect pairing.” 2
“Oi oi, pass me some oysters. I don’t need the peanuts.”
“So Leonhart-sama is the type of person who only likes oysters… okay, here you go.”
Carol gave only the oysters without any peanuts to Leonhart.
[“The reason for that was the darkness of destruction that the Abyss exuded.”]
“…Fumu, in that case, that would make this place the space of destruction.”
[“As Fia the god had turned into the Abyss itself, the darkness it emanated carried her hatred toward the world.”]
“Rather, that would mean that this place is inside of the body of a god… Ah, give me that cookie.”
“Here you go, Shiso-sama.”
“Thanks.” Such was Hunty’s light gratitude to Kesselring.
[“This caused the darkness of destruction to come into being from the Abyss, and the Abyss lived on as it cursed the world.”]
“But really… these sweet and sour foods make me want something to drink —Carol.”
“Yes! I’ve prepared various drinks, so please choose any drink you like!”
“That’s perfect, Carol.”
As Leonhart praised Carol, the drinks were distributed. The story was totally ignored.
[“Because of that, suffering couldn’t disappear from the world.”]
“Well, it is us, the Demon Army and the majins, who threaten the world’s peace after all.”
“Please stop with the subtle majin jokes that we can’t laugh about. It will make us feel depressed.”
Galtia’s casual remark made Leonhart frowned in disgust. Since it was the truth, he had nothing he could say against that.
[“The darkness wriggled, consuming lives, and devouring the living.”]
“…I’m at a loss about what they wanted to convey now.”
[“The darkness of destruction has always flowed and circulated in Abyss.”]
“Don’t worry, Hunty. It’s always like that at the beginning of a story.”
[“There was a king who ruled them all.”]
“…Oh, something seems to have moved just now, you know?”
“Hm?”
Everyone paid attention as Galtia pointed it out.
At a pedestal-like place in the distance, something appeared to be rising.
[“The King of the Abyss.”]
Along with that story, a large demon appeared.
[“Nobody has ever seen it and survived.”]
Ssulal said,
“That’s a pretty good story.”
“Eh.”
While everyone raised their voices, Leonhart immediately looked at the demon that appeared in the distance, as if to switch his thoughts.
It was a bipedal demon with a bat-like head and gold armor. Seeing the demon that was similar to dragon knight, Leonhart squint his eyes and,
[“—The King of the Abyss emits a terrifying aura.”]
“That thing is a lot weaker than I had expected…”
“Haah,” exhaled Leonhart as he reached for the snacks again.
Seeing that, Galtia looked like he was witnessing something unusual, and asked,
[“I am the King of the Abyss.”]
“What, you won’t be going at it?”
“I don’t really feel like it. I had some expectations, since he called himself the King of the Abyss and all, but… Well, I think I’ll pass on this one.”
Leonhart waved his left hand while using his right hand to pick up a snack and nibble on it.
And as nobody was making a move, their snack time continued.
Meanwhile, the demon raised its voice from the background,
[“No one could be a match for me. No one can kill me.”]
“It seems to be saying something, but Leonhart-sama, what should we do?”
“We will resist if it attacks. We can just ignore it until then, and Ssulal seems to be listening to it anyway… And so, let’s procrastinate some more.”
“Certainly!”
[“I, am the King of the Abyss.”]
Ignoring the story-telling that sounded subtly more emotional in the background, the group continued to eat their snacks.
Meanwhile,
[“…The one who led the world to ruin!”]
“…By the way, I’m curious about something.”
“Ah? What’s wrong?”
Hunty looked at Leonhart with a curious expression. Her gaze was directed to his back,
[“The dark power of destruction. It will destroy everything. All shall be dragged into the chaos—”]
“You don’t have your usual sword with you. Orpheil, isn’t it?”
“Aah, I see. Now I think about it, you don’t know—”
Leonhart, who was convinced by Hunty’s question, slowly moved his right hand.
He moved his hand, reaching out to the empty air,
“—If it’s a sword I need, then I have it right here.”
“!”
Hunty opened her eyes wide.
It was because Leonhart’s right hand was moving as if pulling out something out of space.
With a light, low tone echo, Leonhart pulled the object out whole and raised his demonic sword Orpheil. As a result, Hunty squinted her eyes,
“…Since when are you capable of such a thing?”
“Well, after I spent all that time learning magic, this thing has started to feel strangely lively, you see. I think it has become sharper.”
“…And?”
“Aah,” continued Leonhart as he nodded,
“…Then by the next morning, I was able to do this. As expected, I was dumbfounded by it, so I went to show it to Ssulal, but—”
After saying that much, Ssulal proceeded to take over the explanation.
Although her eyes were still pinpointed on the demon who proclaimed to be the King of the Abyss,
“I’ve always found it weird that his sword lacked a special ability despite it being a demonic sword, but when I checked it back then, it appeared that the sword would increase in power according to its compatibility with its wielder. It seems he became capable of doing many things afterward, and one of them is to store the sword in a pocket space — rather, it’s more correct to say that the space became its sheath so Leonhart could carry it around like that…!”
[“I am wrath, I am the teacher, I am the world, I am chaos.”]
“Well, it’s something like this.”
“…I see.”
The demonic sword wielded by Leonhart caused a mysterious phenomenon by disappearing and reappearing in an instant, just by him exerting his power.
Perhaps Ssulal wanted to witness it, as she turned to look at Leonhart at the moment the sword reappeared. It seemed that her heartstring was pulled by the act of him drawing the sword out of an empty space.
Leonhart didn’t seem to mind it as he inhaled,
“…Well, it has certainly become more convenient for me since I no longer need to be concerned when I sit down or lean against a wall. I’m already used to it, but when I first got it, there were times when I accidentally got scratched by the sword because I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Fuhn… what else you can do with it?”
[“Despair begets destruction, history begets worldly desire, I shall return everything to nothing.”]
“Aah, I can do other things. Rather, this seems to be extension of that, so it isn’t a big deal—”
“!”
As Leonhart said that, there was another movement.
Then he lightly made a random throwing motion with the demonic sword,
“After throwing it like this—”
With that, the demonic sword flew toward the pedestal in the back of the space while maintaining reasonable speed.
It went straight toward the demon who claimed to be the King of the Abyss,
[“Hammer toward unjust—”]
“…Ah.”
Someone leaked such a voice.
The place was suddenly filled with the scent of death.
[“—?!”]
The demonic sword easily penetrated the body of the King of the Abyss.
The King of the Abyss collapsed, and just as they thought the demonic sword would keep flying as it was,
“There.”
Leonhart had the demonic sword back in his hand.
Looking at the result of his action, he wore a subtle expression and,
“…Just like this, it will come back to me of its own accord.”
“…As expected, I feel creeped out about that. No, I’m not talking about the sword.”
Hunty also wore a subtle expression. The others also leaked voices saying, “Uwaah…”
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